State trails neighbours in amenities

Despite its tech capital image, Karnataka lags behind on most fronts

Karnataka may have put itself on the world map for various reasons, but it still has a long way to go in terms of development.

A comparison of the State with the other South Indian states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - based on the house listing and housing census data highlights–2011, shows that Karnataka fares badly.

Kerala outsmarts its neighbours in almost all respects, be it in the provision of electricity, drinking water, toilets, transport and its adaptation to the world of communication.

Karnataka is last among the South Indian states with only 90.6 pc houses having access to electricity. It is still very much dependent on use of kerosene. It tops the South India states in the use of kerosene (8.6 pc).

Kerala is on top with the largest number of households with water closet toilets (66.7 pc), while Karnataka is placed last among the South Indian states (36.9 pc).

Tamil Nadu has the largest number of households with access to tap water (79.8 pc), followed by Andhra with 69.9 pc. In Karnataka 66.1 pc of the houses use tap water.

Kerala is on top when it comes to households with four-wheelers (car, jeep, van). About 10.2 pc of its houses have at least one four-wheeler. Karnataka follows with 6.3 pc of the households with four-wheelers.

Computer/internet

Kerala has the largest number of houses with computer/laptop (15.8 pc). It also beats Karnataka when it comes to the use of internet.

About 6.3 pc of the houses have internet facility. In Karnataka only 12.8 pc of the houses have computer/laptop facility and 4.8 pc of the houses have internet facility. Andhra stands last with just 8.4 pc of houses with computer facility, with 2.6 pc of the houses having internet facility.

In Tamil Nadu, 10.6 pc houses have computer facility, with 4.2 pc of the houses having access to internet.

Phone connection

Kerala tops the South Indian states with the largest number of households with either landline or mobile phone facility (89.7 pc), followed by Tamil Nadu with 74.9 pc.

Kerala also stands on top with 31.3 pc of the houses having both landline and mobile facilities. About 11.6 pc of its households have landline facility.

While Tamil Nadu has the largest percentage of houses with mobile phones (62.1 pc), Karnataka is placed second with 56.5 pc of the houses using mobile phones.

When it comes to use of landline phones, about seven pc of Karnataka’s houses have the facility, while only 5.7 pc of houses in Tamil Nadu have landline connection. In Andhra Pradesh, 54.9 pc of the houses have mobile phones and 63.1 pc houses have either mobile phone or landline facility.

Why Kerala outsmarts other southern states? Prof K S James, Head, Population Research Centre, ISEC, said Kerala, even in the 2001 census, had reported good progress and is maintaining the trend.

“Kerala, which is an almost cent per cent literate state, is not finding it difficult to use technology like computer/internet. Unlike in other states, there is not much urban and rural divide in Kerala with infrastructure facilities available across the state. Even a decade ago, every village was electrified. Population is spread across the state and no village is isolated. All these and more make Kerala stand out. But, we should see the pace of growth when we say a state is progressing.”

TV/radio

The most favourite sop provided by politicians in Tamil Nadu to its voters during elections is television set, thanks to which the state today has the largest TV watching populace. About 87 pc of its households have access to TV, a near 50 pc jump from statistics available in 2001.

In Karnataka only 60 pc houses have television sets – a 23 pc jump from 2001, while 58.8 pc of houses in Andhra Pradesh have access to the gadget.

Kerala has seen a 38 pc jump from 2001, as 76.8 pc of the houses have TV sets today. 

Transistors fade

Use of transistors/radio, which was the only major source of entertainment used largely by both rural and urban populace in the country, has dipped dramatically in the last decade.

About 35.1 pc of the country’s populace was hooked to transistors even till 2001. Today, only 19.9 pc use this as an entertainment tool, probably because of the spurt in the use of cellphones which have become a source of communication as well as infotainment.

Kerala still takes a fancy to this old world charm with 29.7 pc of its households using transistors. In 2001, 59.2 pc of its households used this gadget.    

In Karnataka, 22.3 pc of the houses depend on transistors, while 22.7 pc of the houses in Tamil Nadu use the gadget. Andhra Pradesh, however, has no liking to the transistor.

Only 9.3 pc of its household use transistors. In 2001, the figure stood at 21.6 pc.